Saturday, February 16, 2008

Lakewood Whole Foods Caves to Handful of Naysayers

While the majority of residents remain clueless and will never know what was to be. Read other blogs posts about the matter here and here. Whole Foods had designed a gorgeous building that would have been attractive from all corners of Richmond, Gaston and Abrams. But as of 2/14/08 they have decided to renovate the old Minyard building whose backside has been a disgrace to the neighborhood for many years. But I guess the crotchety Lakewood residents who killed this deal before it ever left the ground know better than the reknowned architects WF chose to design this wonderful building. To put it plainly, this was Lakewood's one and only shot at having a true crown jewel. And I live within walking distance of the site so I certainly have a strong opinion on the matter.

One day I hope to get permission to reveal the actual plans they drew up for the space. They are simply stunning and would have spruced up Lakewood exponentially. Now I know why people scoot over to the Park Cities or Preston Hollow once they can afford it.

This reminds me of when I was in graduate school at UNT in 2001. This was the year the football team went 0-5 then turned the season around and ended up in a bowl game for the first time in 45 years (or something like that). During the 0-5 time the student body voted AGAINST raising tuition to support a new football stadium. I taught some Kinesiology classes and asked the students what they thought of this. UNT is known for their musical prowess so many weren't surprised, but one student spoke out against the raise in tuition and our conversation went something like this.

Me: "Aren't you on a full music scholarship?"

Her: "Yes"

Me: "So then what do you care about a tuition raise to benefit a new football stadium if you're not technically paying for it?"

Her: "????????"

So what's my point? Stupidity wins over logic and practicality more often than not. And Lakewood has a few stupid residents like my former student and is a loser because of this stupidity.